Lower back pain or lumbago is a common musculoskeletal disorder affecting many people at some point in their lives. Lower back pain may be classified by the duration of symptoms as acute, sub acute, and chronic.
Among numerous possible causes of back pain, the most common is back muscle strain or injury. However, there can be other causes, such as damage or injury to spinal nerves, spinal joints, or discs. Additionally, when deviations in posture are present, muscular tightness and pain issues can obstruct normal, pain-free positioning and movement. To help the body attain and maintain optimal body alignment, assistive devices such as therapeutic cushions are utilized.
Besides the most common form of therapeutic cushion that is placed in a chair to support the hips and evenly distribute weight while sitting, there are also lumbar or lower back cushions that help maintain the normal curvature of the lower back area and can aid in relieving some types of back pain, including stress-related symptoms commonly caused by slouching. However, the available variety of lower back cushions cannot guarantee success for each user. Consequently, an individualized approach is required for each user to provide effective support for the lumbar spine. Therefore, it would be useful to have lower back cushions with different levels of density and inflatable chambers allowing for self-regulating and controlling a shape of a cushion, and thus adjusting the cushion for an individual user.